


I Didn't Mean To...

by Iamacarrot



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brotherly Love, Depression, Major Character Injury, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 11:56:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17425433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iamacarrot/pseuds/Iamacarrot
Summary: Why does there have to be a dying apple in a bag of fresh potatoes?





	I Didn't Mean To...

"Mesmer-OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hypno screamed, sneering as his chant was avoided.

"Nice try hippo man! But we've got your card now!" Leo shouted, moving forwards and knocking Hypno to the ground.

Hypno growled, standing and knocking Leo to the ground with ease, taking in a deep breath, and bellowing loudly. The brothers looked on in confusion. This was a new thing. Which meant that nothing good was to come of it.

Lo and behold, nothing good happened. Not even a millisecond later, a pack of dogs ran in, barking and snarling as they launched themselves at the turtles. For extra measure- as well as a bit of showy overkill -Hypno summoned a white tiger, who roared as it ran towards the turtles. Raph, of course, went after the tiger, leaving his brothers to fight off the dogs with no struggle. The dogs ran off, yelping, after a few hits each, which left the tiger, who was slightly injured, but still fighting.

"It wasn't really smart of you to send animals this easy to fight." Donnie commented.

"I know. Which is why they were just the diversions." Hypno replied, snapping, and smiling darkly as Mikey screamed, shouting in fear as he was pulled into the shadows by a panther. "Bring me the baby."

Hypno held his hand out as Mikey was brought to him. "You know, it was pretty sneaky of you to trick me the way you did. I just thought I'd return the favor."

Hypno then waited a bit, before calling in a young lion.

"I'll give you a ten second head start. The girls like it to chase their food before they eat." Hypno chuckled, watching as Mikey gasped, scooting back and rushing off to hide. "... _Kill him_."

The large animals roared, following after Mikey and catching up to Mikey in no time at all. The large panther scratched at Michelangelo's leg, causing the Box Turtle to fall to the ground, panting and sobbing as he was pinned down. Both cats hissed, seemingly smiling as they both lifted a singular paw, preparing to send a killing blow.

"MIKEY!" Raph, Donnie, and Leo screamed.

All three rushed to Mikey's aid, throwing the panther and lion away. Raph and Leo kept the cats at bay, while Donnie did his best to tend to Mikey's wounds. There was a pool of blood under Michelangelo's left leg, and the young turtle was wailing as the injury he'd sustained started to burn.

"I know, Michael. I know. Just try to stay calm. Don't move." Donnie muttered, more to himself than to his baby brother.

"It  _HURTS!_ I want it to stop hurting!" Mikey sobbed, yelping as he felt the pressure of a bandage wrap around his leg.

"I can't stop the pain right now! Just stop moving! You'll bleed out more!" Donnie shouted, shutting Mikey up as much as physically possible.

Raph and Leo managed to fatally wound the panther and lion, sending the big cats to limp back to Hypno. The hippo mutant huffed, saying nothing as he threw down a smoke-bomb. When the smoke cleared, Hypno and the animals were gone.

With relieved sighs, everyone turned their attention to Mikey.

"You feelin' alright?" Leo asked, plastron decorated with medium sized scratches.

Raph was scratched as well, but neither brother was struck with enough force for blood to emerge. Thank God.

"That's a very smart question, Leon. His leg is gashed, and you're talking to him as if it's a papercut." Donnie scoffed.

"Well I'm  _sorry_ for wanting to make sure that he isn't  _dying!"_   Leo huffed in exaggeration.

"Guys, can this wait? Mikey's still bleeding." Raph groaned.

"Right. Can you stand, Michael?" Donnie inquired.

Mikey nodded silently, not looking to any of his older brothers. None of them seemed to notice this, however, and Mikey was helped up by Donnie and Leo. Everyone then walked out to the Turtle Tank, getting settled, and becoming a bit disturbed by the unusual silence that had ensued.

"So... when do you think Miguel's leg will heal?" Leon asked, looking to Donatello awkwardly.

"With proper and  _consistent_ care; probably around three weeks." Donnie replied.

Not one word came out of Michelangelo's mouth in response, but, yet again, his brothers simply blew that off. Sure, maybe they were just caught up in their own worried thoughts, and maybe they were just assuming that Mikey's lack of response was because of shock. But... it still hurt Mikey to know that they refused to mention even those two things.

"Well, we're home!" Raph announced.

"Thank you! That was probably the  _weirdest_ ride we've ever had in this thing!" Leo groaned.

Mikey huffed silently. That fact was because of Mikey, himself. If he had just paid attention to his surroundings, and if he had put his training to use, he would have been able to sense that panther! He could have managed to avoid this situation altogether! If Mikey had been paying attention, his brothers wouldn't be yelling like this! Donnie and Leo were annoyed with Mikey, the Box Turtle  _knew_. They were most likely thinking that Mikey messed everything up! That would be understandable. Michelangelo could rarely do  _anything_ without messing something up...

"Mikey... Mikey...? MIGUEL!"

Michelangelo jumped on the cot that he had been sat on. When he finally placed his focus on the moment, Mikey could see that his brothers were looking at him with strange- probably annoyed -looks.

"Uhh... yes?" Mikey replied.

"You didn't even hear the question, did you?" Donnie groaned.

Mikey looked to the floor with shame. Donnie was upset now. Because Mikey wasn't paying attention.

"Don, cool it. Mikey, it's fine." Raph assured.

"Mmhm... what was the question?" Mikey asked softly.

"I wanted to know if you felt better." Leo replied.

"Let's see, I was able to daydream without complaining about how my leg hurts. Does that answer your question?" Mikey chuckled.

Leo smiled, pulling Mikey into a side hug. Mikey sighed happily, enjoying the short moment, and watching as Raph and Leo left. Great. Now Mikey was gonna have to stay in Donnie's lab for 80,000 years.

"Just try to stay as still as possible. And don't talk. I need to work, and I don't need any more  _distractions_ after what's happened today." Donnie instructed, his comment coming out a bit colder than he'd intended.

"Okay..." Mikey sighed, deciding to go back to his previous thoughts.

It seemed as if being a screwup was a common thing with Mikey. He could never amount up to anything. He would constantly manage to do  _something_ to mess things up. He couldn't be mean enough to take the trailer from Todd, he couldn't keep himself from knocking Donnie to the ground, on  _multiple occasions_ , and he couldn't even do what he was told, long enough for his brothers to attack Hypno when they'd first fought! What kind of ninja could Mikey even be? No ninja would do so many stupid things! Which is why Mikey started to believe more and more that he'd deserved to be hurt as the minutes ticked on.

And that led to another revelation.

There was a reason as to why Mikey wasn't complaining about how much his leg hurt. And that was because it  _didn't_. Michelangelo's tears that he'd let slip out were for show. His leg had become more than immune to pain, and solely because-

_GrooOoOOOooOOOOowWWWwLL!_

Mikey blushed as his stomach growled loudly. Odd. He hadn't even noticed that he was hungry. Thankfully, though, Donatello hadn't heard the growl, or at least didn't act like he had. So, Mikey stayed silent, punching himself in the gut every time he felt a hunger pang come on. That was something that Mikey was training his body to do: Go at least three days without getting hungry. No matter what was happening, Mikey wanted his body to stay as silent as possible. So, Mikey started to Yo-Yo diet. He'd eat one week, binge one or two snacks the next week, and not eat for the third week. This cycle would repeat, and Mikey had found himself making slight progress. Which was funny, considering how this was only his third week of said diet.

"Donnie! Mikey! Pizza's here! Come get it before I take it all and refuse to share!" Leo shouted.

Donnie rolled his eyes. The threat was absolutely stupid, but Donnie knew that it was more than real. So, with a huff, Donnie stood, turning and raising a brow as he was met with the sight of Mikey beating his own stomach to death. The Softshell swore that he'd heard Mikey growl  _shut up_ in the process.

"Uhh... okay? What is...  _that?"_   Donnie asked.

"Huh? Oh! I'm just... I... raw broccoli?" Michelangelo replied.

The fuck? That didn't even make sense to  _MIKEY._

"...Okay...? Whatever. I'll bring up the leftovers." Donnie muttered, walking out of the lab.

"Wait, but..." Mikey whined, slumping over.

Of  _course_ his brothers didn't want him with them. There was no reason for Mikey to be wanted. Mikey had screwed everything up, and this was his punishment.

_Grr-_

"SHUT UP!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, Miguel. Food's here. Donnie's in the living room talking to Raph about boring stuff. So I came in here to feed ya." Leo announced, sitting next to Mikey.

Mikey smiled, happy that Leo was the one who had come in. It was always easier to talk to Leo during hard times.

"Since you usually like to eat the whole pizza, I brought you three slices. Just because." Leo chuckled, handing the plate to Mikey.

The Box Turtle tensed. If Michelangelo ate this pizza, then he'd have to go  _two weeks_ without eating, just to restart his body's training. That was most definitely not going to be good for his body, but, then again, neither was this stupid,  _torturous_ diet.

So, to hell with it. Mikey could just throw it back up, anyways.

Which is what he planned on doing.

Mikey looked down at the plate, before shoving all three slices down his throat at once, choking as he desperately tried to swallow the food down. He managed to do so, and panted as he let his breathing calm down. Meanwhile, Leo was sitting silently, wide-eyed. What was  _that_ all about?

"You okay, Miguel?" Leo asked.

"Yeah... I'm g-UuURP! I'm g-uuUuUuURP! I'm... I..."

Mikey then fell onto his hands and knees, coughing and hacking as he forced himself to reject the food, punching himself in the gut, forcing his gag reflex to work overtime, and even going as far as shoving his fingers into his throat.

"MIKEY! WHAT THE **_HELL_** ARE YOU DOING?!?!?" Leo screamed, scrambling to the floor, and pulling Mikey's hands back, his focus mainly on how much was actually coming out of Michelangelo's tiny body, rather than the fact that all of it was landing on the two.

The next two minutes were filled with nothing more than the sound of violent gagging, which earned the immediate arrival of Raph, Donnie, and April (whom had been called over to talk about important matters).

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Raph yelled, getting onto his knees next to Leo.

"I DON'T  ** _FUCKING KNOW_** _!_ HE JUST ATE THE PIZZA, AND THEN STARTED MAKING HIMSELF THROW UP!" Leo screamed back, grunting as he held Mikey's arms down with much more force.

Michelangelo continued to throw up for exactly thirty more seconds, before falling back, groaning as he was leant against Leo for support. The others were standing and sitting in shock. Never before had Mikey done this, and that caused a rush of thoughts to flow through their minds. What had they just witnessed? Why had it happened? What brought it on? And why did it have to come from  _MIKEY_ of all mutants?!

"Mikey, what's wrong?" April asked, getting on her knees.

"Nothin's goin' on... I just didn't like the pizza..." Mikey muttered, groaning as he waited to see if he had more food ready to spill.

"Uh-huh, and I'm Queen Elizabeth. Tell the truth." April ordered.

"I AM! I didn't like the pizza!" Mikey whined, cringing as he started to feel the pain of making himself throw up.

This was only the third time he'd done it, and he was still trying to find a way to do so without making himself hurt afterwards.

"Michael, you are the  _worst liar_ in the world. Things will be much easier when you tell us the truth." Donnie sighed, no sign of concern or fear in his voice.

Which wasn't really a surprise to Michelangelo. The two had been growing apart recently, in Mikey's eyes. Mainly because Donnie never liked it when Mikey was being...  _Mikey_.

"I  _am_ telling the truth. Why don't you believe me?" Mikey asked.

"Because we know you aren't being honest. And this is starting to become tedious. So  _please_ tell us so we can get this over with." Donnie growled.

Wrong choice and tone of words, Donatello.

Mikey said nothing, pushing Leo back, and standing up, curling his hand into a fist before punching Donnie to the ground. Everyone silenced, watching as Mikey hissed before limping off, saying nothing.

"What. The actual. Fuck." Leo muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" 'Because we know you aren't being honest! This is getting tedious! Just tell us so we can get this over with!', FUCK THAT! WHAT KIND OF  _BITCH_ DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!" Mikey screamed, stabbing a pair of scissors into a nearby wall.

It was kind of stupid, for Mikey to be shouting these things so loudly, considering how the rooms in the lair were literally incapable of having doors. But, the terrapin didn't care at this point. If his brothers were going to be so annoying and emotionless about the situation, then Mikey would just have to make it a point that he could make it through without them! They'd most certainly like that! Not having a  _bother_ like Mikey around would be  _so much better!_

"WHO DO YOU IDIOTS THINK YOU ARE?! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO IGNORE YOUR FEELINGS, AND K-" Mikey paused, breaking into a sweat as he had managed to catch his small slipup just in time.

That mistake could have made things much worse than they already were.

"Stupid excuses for brothers..." Mikey muttered, crawling onto his bed, and hiding under his covers, knowing that his brothers and April were just a few feet away from his room. "Go away, Leo."

Leon said nothing, sitting on Mikey's bed. The others were going to have find out why this was happening, and soon. There was no reason for Mikey to act this way, and that continued to beg the question-

"Why are you doing this?" Leo asked.

Mikey huffed, scowling as his cover was pulled down. Refusing to look at Leo, Mikey started to recede into his shell, pausing as he felt a comforting, non-judgmental hand on his shoulder. With a sigh, Mikey sent a teary eyed look to Leo, who seemed just as distressed. Neither said anything for a while, before Leon moved his hand so that it draped around Mikey's body. The two stayed in this position, before Mikey launched himself forwards, sobbing as he and Leo hugged aggressively.

"Thank God you're feeling better..." Leo whispered, nuzzling into Mikey's neck. "We just want to help you. Why won't you let us?"

"I don't need help..." Mikey replied.

"Miguel,  _please_. I'm  _begging you_ to tell us, tell  _me_ , the truth. I hate seeing you like this." Leo muttered. "Are you acting like this... because of  _me?"_

"What? No! Leo, you haven't done anything wrong-"

"Then  _WHY?!"_   Leo shouted, holding Mikey closer and sobbing.

"...I don't wanna say..." Mikey whispered.

"Mikey, please..." Leo whimpered.

"I just  _can't_. I beg of you to respect that. Just leave it be..." Mikey pleaded.

Leo sniffled, sighing as he came to terms with the fact that Mikey wasn't just going to give in so easily. This was gonna cause more than enough tension in the family, sure, but this would just have to be dealt with. Hopefully, Mikey would at least try to make things right with Donnie. Other than that, Leo knew that nothing was spilling out of Mikey's mouth any time soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four Months had passed since Mikey's... episode... and things had no doubt been hard. Michelangelo rarely spoke, and he rarely ate like he used to. He had managed to make amends with Donnie, but refused to talk to the Softshell for more than three minutes.

Each  ** _week_**.

This caused Donnie to go into a temporary state of depression, and he had stopped communicating with everyone. At this point, there were two members of the once close-knit family that were becoming distant. It was devastating, of course, and left an awkward hole in the turtles' everyday lives. Mikey was- surprisingly -the one that had kept this hole open. He always ignored Donnie's attempts to interact in any way. Another thing that caused Donnie to spiral much more.

And Raph and Leo were left to fear that this would never end.

But then, there was a milestone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you guys wanna watch?" Raph asked, looking to his brothers.

The quartet had made their way to April's, and it hadn't even been a minute, before Mikey started hissing at Donnie, ignoring the completely saddened look on Donnie's face. Leo had intervened on multiple occasions, and was starting to believe that coming to April's was a  _really bad_ idea.

"Maybe we should-"

"Stop looking so sad."

Everyone looked to Mikey, who had his knees pulled up against his plastron. The young ninja was looking to the floor, but did nothing in response to everyone's surprise.

"Sad doesn't look good on you... Dee..." Mikey huffed.

Donnie gasped, moving forwards, and nearly breaking down when Mikey didn't show any signs of aggression. Donnie continued to move forward, reaching a hand out and placing it on Mikey's shoulder.

No aggressive movements.

"Mikey...?" Donnie whispered, voice hoarse.

"What?" Mikey replied, looking to Donnie.

Donatello sobbed, pulling Mikey into a hug. Mikey hugged his brother back, sobbing happily, despite his want to still be angry. Which had honestly been hard.

Michelangelo could never stay mad at his brothers for too long, anyways.

"I'm sorry for making you upset." Mikey sighed.

"Shut up, Michael. Just shut up." Donnie sobbed. "You don't need to be sorry for anything..."

Mikey tensed.

Oh how wrong Donnie truly was...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, toss me my keys!"

_Thunk_

"I said  _KEYS_."

"I thought you said  _Christmas Tree!"_

"Why the  _fuck_ would I say Christmas Tree?!"

Mikey giggled at the silly show he was watching, smiling as he was pulled into a tight hug. Looking up, Mikey closed his eyes and cherished the gentle kiss that was placed on his forehead by none other than Donnie.

Three more months had passed since Mikey's episode, and everyone seemed to have forgotten about the incident.

Just like Mikey wanted them to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two more months passed, and things had gone back to normal completely. Raph was back to his strong, cuddly self, Leo was back to his awful jokester self, Donnie was back to his scientific self, who reacted to everything with emotionless passion.

And Mikey was the same too.

Which wasn't really the best thing in the world.

Mikey was now much more susceptible to being offended and/or brokenhearted. He and Donnie had been on good terms now, yes, but that didn't mean that they didn't fight anymore.

They actually seemed to fight much more, now.

And that really started to affect Mikey in ways that none of his family had ever seen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't know. Maybe I just shouldn't go." April sighed, slouching as she rejected yet another dress from the worker in a dress department.

April had called Donnie, and the Softshell had put her on speaker. Now, she was getting multiple answers, from multiple sources. And by multiple, this meant three.

Mikey was nowhere to be found.

"Look, April, if you think that people don't like you for who you are, then you shouldn't humor them with failed attempts to impress them!" Leo commented.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but, Leon has a point." Donnie hummed.

"Thank you. Slight offense taken." Leo joked.

Donnie rolled his eyes, he and Leo not noticing their baby brother, whom had walked in with a bag full of... something.

"Hey, Mike! Wanna come over and give April some advice? She's got this real big school dance coming up!" Raph chimed.

Donnie and Leo looked back to Mikey.

"...Beauty is  _PAIN._ Cold, hard, ridiculously awful  _pain_. And pain is a trial. If you want to put yourself through trials just to get people to like you, then  _FUCK YOU._ You don't know the  _real_ pain others go through..." Mikey hissed, making his way to his room without another word.

No one said a word, unable to respond to Mikey's sudden anger.

"Should uh... should we be worried about that?" Donnie asked.

"Nah. I think he's just in a mood right now." Leo replied. "So, back to your advice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raph watched in complete and utter  _TERROR_ as Mikey aggressively attacked the living room couch. This was newer than new. Mikey had  _never_ gotten this aggressive around  _anything_. He hadn't even gotten this way towards that weird band during pizza week!

Then again, Raph  _had_ stopped the little guy.

"Mike? Don't you think that Pop will be upset when he sees this?" Raph asked softly.

Mikey stopped, looking at the couch, and whimpering as he backed away.

"Please don't tell dad!" Mikey pleaded.

"What? I'm not taking the blame for this! And I'm not gonna blame this on Donnie or Leo!" Raph replied.

Mikey sobbed, bounding out of the living room, and out of the lair's main entrance. Raph shook his head and sighed, humming as he watched Splinter walk in.

"So, Orange has been in here." Splinter chuckled, feeling at his chair, which had been damaged beyond repair.

"Yeah... he didn't want me to say... how did you know?" Raph asked.

"Do you think I am stupid? I may be old, but I know the signs of mental decay when I see them. Orange has been hiding it well. I say that because not even  _Purple_ can explain this behavior!" Splinter replied. "It's not like any of you have tried though. You three never have been too attentive towards Orange's more...  _unstable_ side."

"Unstable? Mental decay? Pop,  _what_ are you talkin' about?" Raph asked.

"I have noticed that April has sensed something. That's good. She will be a good way of counseling for Orange." Splinter hummed, blatantly ignoring his son's question.

"Pop." Raph huffed.

"Things have been getting worse. I hoped that Orange would have passed through this after eight. It worries me, though. You know how deceptive Orange can be. He doesn't want to hurt you three, but that only ends up hurting him, in the long run." Splinter sighed, placing a hand on his chair.

"Pop!" Raph groaned. "I don't understand what you're trying to say!"

"He'll fall soon, if you can't fix him. Dying lamps can only sustain a bulb for so long." Splinter muttered. "I don't think you'll be able to handle his second falling out this time. You were only but so young when he passed the first time. Thankfully, though, I had enough strength to bring him back. At a cost, though. He brought back a piece of him that was supposed to have died off with him. It grew stronger, and is slowly trying to eat the food he is spoon-feeding it."

"POP! WHAT. ARE. YOU. SAYING?!" Raph screamed.

Splinter looked to his son, smiling sadly.

"Why don't you try to find out for yourself?"

"We've  _tried!_ He won't tell us anything!" Raph replied.

"And why do you think that is?" Splinter inquired.

"I don't know! He just doesn't wanna talk!" Raph huffed.

Splinter chuckled.

"That is not the reason. He will not tell you... because he knows that when he dies, he'll be taking you with him." Splinter finally announced. "That is, unless, of course, you can pull him out of his pit before he finally falls."

Splinter then walked off without another word, leaving Raph speechless.

Mikey was,  _IS_...

** _Dying...?_ **

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When were you planning on telling them?" April asked sternly, heart pounding at her newfound revelation.

"I dunno... when it started happening?" Mikey replied softly.

The Box Turtle had made his way to April's apartment, telling her about his... situation... and lying down on a small, handmade fortress, a request that he'd made.

He could feel himself getting close.

"Mikey, that would be more than  _TORTURE_ to them!" April shouted.

"Well what else should I do?! Show them mercy?! Let them help me?! Like that'll do anything! They can only pay attention to one thing for so long! Besides! When it happens-"

"IF." April interrupted.

"...Don't flatter yourself... anyways...  _WHEN_ it happens, they'll be better off. A burden will be taken off of them. Which makes me wonder why Pop even kept me here in the first place." Mikey muttered.

"Don't talk like that." April huffed.

"How  _should_ I talk? I've lied for long enough, and I feel myself losing every day. I'm getting closer, and I refuse to let them see me... I'll just let it happen wherever I drop. I was planning on leaving for a while now, anyways." Mikey sighed.

"Mikey, you're  _not_ going to-"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!" Leo screamed as soon as Raph knocked the door in.

"Tell you what?" Mikey asked, not moving.

He didn't have the strength to.

"You know  _very well_ what we're talking about. Cut the shit." Donnie hissed, tears streaming down his face.

Leo knelt down, reaching out and trying to pull Mikey into a hug. Mikey wailed in response, his body screaming for the movement to stop.

"I can't move... I'm too weak..." Mikey whimpered.

He was panting, now.

"Michael, tell us. Why didn't you say anything?" Donnie sobbed, kneeling down as well, and placing a gentle hand on Mikey's cheek.

"Because none of you would have cared." Mikey replied coldly. "How many things have I said to you, that have been taken as a joke? Whenever I want to say something important, I always end up being looked over. So I thank you for that. I will certainly tell everyone in the afterlife about how  _great_ you were as brothers..."

Mikey's voice was getting hoarse.

"Miguel, why would we take something like...  _this_... as a joke? You're our baby brother... the heart of our family." Leo cried, his tears falling in front of Mikey.

Whose vision was getting blurry.

"If only you'd have told me that while I was still healthy and sane enough to believe it." Mikey panted, groaning as a sharp pain shot through his body.

Just a few more minutes, now.

"Mikey, we can help... just let us-"

"Stop, Leon. Look, I love you all, I really do, but, sometimes, I wonder how I could... how I could... even..." Mikey trailed off, eyes starting to slip closed.

"No... NO! STOP IT! DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES! DON'T DO IT!" Leo screamed, cursing as he was pulled back by Raph.

"Don't let him watch." April whispered.

Raph nodded, turning Leo away from the scene.

"Michael... please fight it a little longer..." Donnie pleaded.

"Heheh... if I did that, I would defy all logical explanation. Wouldn't I? And I thought you were the smart one." Mikey chuckled unenthusiastically.

 _One minute left_. He could sense his own countdown.

"It was fun knowing you guys. I would have been a better little brother if I could have..." Mikey sighed, lying his head down on a pillow and humming softly.

_Thirty seconds._

"A better little brother? Mikey, you were, you  _ARE_ perfect! Why are you saying these things?!" Donnie asked.

 _Twelve seconds_.

"I dunno. It could be a psychological thing. Maybe you should see what the internet says about it." Mikey joked.

_Eight seconds._

"Michael..." Donnie whispered.

April placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder, shaking her head.

"It's time to leave him be." April sighed sadly.

_Five._

"I love you guys..."

_Four._

"I always have."

_Three._

"And I always will..."

 _Two_.

"With my last breath... I told you..."

_One._

"So..."

. . .

Silence.

Nothing more.

Just. Deafening. Silence.

"Mikey... Mikey...! MIKEY! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?!?!? WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL US?!?!? WE COULD HAVE _**HELPED!** "_  Leo sobbed, falling to the floor and breaking down more than he had ever done so in his life.

Donnie said nothing. Neither did Raph or April. They simply let emotions flow through them.

Sadness.

Confusion.

Hatred.

Anger.

Loss.

Horror.

All of these hit everyone like knives... and there was only one more person that needed to know...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't do it..." Donnie sobbed.

April shook her head, holding on to Leo.

"Fine. I'll do it." Raph sighed, walking into the living room, where Splinter was snickering at a Tv show.

"Pop? There's something I have to tell you..." Raph muttered.

"I'm sure there is. But, before you do so, I must tell you to say so quietly. Your brother is a bit worn out from his second fall." Splinter chuckled.

"Wait... what...?" Raph asked.

"Guys! You're back! I was wondering when you'd get home!" Mikey chimed sweetly, making Raph freeze.

There was no way.

"Never underestimate the power of the universe." Splinter advised. "Orange, come console your brothers!"

"Okay Pop!" Mikey giggled, rushing up to Raph and hugging the Snapper.

Raph couldn't respond.

What was happening?

"MIKEY!" Leo screamed, pouncing onto Mikey, and knocking the two to the ground.

Mikey laughed and squealed as he was kissed repeatedly by Leo. His brothers were being so silly!

"This is impossible..." Donnie gasped, his disbelief shared with April.

"Indeed. But, this is what you must live with." Splinter replied. "The good news for you is, though, that this creature never remembers what has happened before its every death."

**Author's Note:**

> No. I will not explain.


End file.
